Gifts of Hope

Building Brighter Holidays for the families we serve

Every December, Gifts of Hope (formerly known as Adopt A Family) helps parents and caregivers grant their children’s holiday wishes. Last year’s program provided gifts and necessities to nearly 1,000 children from 330 families.

Does your family need assistance this holiday season? Oakland Family Services’ Gifts of Hope program is open to agency clients only. Clients can sign up through their Oakland Family Services provider. If you are not an Oakland Family Services client but need help this holiday season, we recommend consulting Julie’s List to find other local resources.

 

Sign Up To Donate

 

How Gifts of Hope Works

Gifts of Hope serves families just keeping their heads above water despite housing, transportation, child care and health care costs; parents struggling to provide necessities like warm winter clothing, books, diapers and bedsheets; children in foster care who worry they may have no gifts to open this year; and families facing other challenges of all shapes and sizes.

 

  • To sign up as a donor, please fill out the form above. Donors can be a single person, family, or a group of people contributing together. There is no minimum amount that you must spend. However, we recommend spending $75-$100 per child, plus $125-$175 per family for shared household items. When you fill out the sign-up form, you can choose the family size/number of children you would like to shop for.

    Does your family need assistance this holiday season? Oakland Family Services’ Gifts of Hope program is open to agency clients only. Clients can sign up through their Oakland Family Services provider. If you are not an Oakland Family Services client but need help this holiday season, we recommend consulting Julie’s List to find other local resources.

    • After being matched with a family, you will receive a wishlist and family profile that shares some biographical information about each family member and their needs and wishes this holiday season. For example, a family may share that they are in need of winter boots, books, and toys for their young daughter, as well as pots and pans and cleaning supplies for the whole family.

    • Donors will also receive a confidential family code, as well as an in-kind contribution receipt for tax purposes.

    • Keep in mind that a wishlist is just that — a wishlist! You are not obligated to purchase everything on the list or spend a certain dollar amount. We recommend spending $75-$100 per child, plus $125-$175 per family for shared household items.

    • Please wrap and mark each gift with the first name of the recipient and the family code.

    • If you have a large number of gifts or have shopped for multiple families, please bag or box each family’s gifts together and label the outside package with the family code.

    • Please donate new items only. In some cases, for example if a family is in need of furniture, we can accept used items that are clean and in good condition. Please email giftsofhope@ofsfamily.org to coordinate.

    • Please call the staff person listed on your wishlist if you have specific questions about the family or gifts.

    • Gifts must be delivered in person to Oakland Family Services’ Pontiac location: 114 Orchard Lake Road, Pontiac, MI 48341.

    • Delivery dates are:

      • Wednesday, Dec. 4 | 9 am–5 pm

      • Thursday, Dec. 5 | 9 am–5 pm

      • Friday, Dec. 6 | 9 am–1 pm

    • Pull up to the front of the building and check in with our volunteers. They will assist you with unloading your gifts.

    • You are also encouraged to fill out an in-kind contribution receipt and email it to giftsofhope@ofsfamily.org for a staff signature.

    • If you are interested in volunteering to help with give intake and/or distribution, please click here to sign up or contact giftsofhope@ofsfamily.org.

  • We need volunteer assistance with gift drop-off and pick-up at our Pontiac office Dec. 4–6 and Dec. 9–10. Morning and afternoon shifts are available each day.

    Dec. 4–6 volunteers will unload gifts from donors’ cars and organize them in storage areas. Dec. 9–10 volunteers will help carry gifts from storage areas and load them into families’ cars.

    Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided to volunteers. All volunteers are required to complete volunteer paperwork.

    Click here to sign up!

 
 
 

Questions?

Please contact us at giftsofhope@ofsfamily.org.